Ministry of Railways
Railway Minister flags off first phase of East-West Metro in Kolkata
Kolkata, February 13, 2020
The Union Minister for Railways and Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal inaugurated the first-phase of East-West Metro, connecting Salt Lake Sector V with Salt Lake Stadium here in the city today. The 5-km corridor includes Salt Lake Sector V, Karunamoyee, Central Park, City Centre, Bengal Chemical and Salt Lake Stadium stations. The services will be opened to the public from February 14, 2020. The fare structure will be Rs. 5 for 0-2 kms distance and Rs. 10 for 5-10 kms journey. The services will be available to commuters from 8 AM to 8 PM daily.
Speaking on the occasion, the Shri Goyal congratulated Railway officers and staffs for working tirelessly and sincerely to implement the project in due time. He stated that operation of this corridor will provide comfortable journey to the people of Kolkata. The Minister at the same time expressed confidence that metro work till Phoolbhagan corridor will be completed within three to four months before Durga Puja. Shri Goyal in this regard informed that Rs. 6,500 crore was spent so far on the East-West Metro project. The Railway Minister also mentioned that work for more four metro lines in the city will begin soon once the State Government extends help by giving land clearance. He urged the Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Babul Supriyo to look after the matter and work in coordination with the State Government so that the work for remaining four lines begins at the earliest.
The Rs. 8,575-crore, first underwater metro project in the country and the second metro project in Kolkata is equipped with the communication-based train control  and state-of-the-art signalling system that uses advanced telecommunication technology to run trains. The software has been prepared by Ansaldo, the company that has provided software integration between the trains, signalling system, tracks and platform screen doors.
East-West metro will be India’s first underwater metro. In phase-1, the metro will start from Salt lake sector V to Salt Lake Stadium. The unique features of this metro include the platform screen doors. The platform screen door will not only prevent accidental fall on tracks but also intentional fall. Inside metro, we have many new features like the real-time monitory, through which any information which has to be disseminated to the passengers can be done from the control room directly. Besides installing CCTV cameras and reflectors on the platforms, smoke detectors and cameras have also been installed inside the metro coaches. The seats in the coaches are also fire resistant. There are also specific facilities such as dedicated seating space for senior citizens as well.
Shri Goyal said, “In this rake, there is the facility of regenerative braking, which will save 30 per cent of the energy while braking. Moreover, the rake has been so beautifully designed that it will consume less energy compared to the earlier one. For energy conservation, we have provided LED lights. During day time no lights shall be required on the stations.”
On an average, the East-West trains will take 13 minutes to cover the 5km distance, stopping for 20 seconds at each station. A rake will take another three minutes for the changeover. In all, there will be 37 services during weekdays, with trains running at 20-minute intervals. On Sundays, there will be 25 services.
The Railway Minister also launched several other Railway projects including 3 MW Roof Top Solar Plant at Howrah station. He dedicated 140 km of Railway Electrification in Katwa-Azimganj and Monigram-Naihati sections of Howrah and Malda Division and 41.13 km double/third line over Howrah, Malda and Sealdah Divisions of Eastern Railway.
The Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Babul Supriyo, Shri Manoj Joshi, General Manager, Metro Railway, Shri Suneet Sharma, General Manager, Eastern Railway and Shri Sanjay Mohanti, General Manager, South Eastern Railway among others were present on the occasion.
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